Dominic Cooper’s name has been linked to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s PreacherTV show for so long that you’d be forgiven for thinking that he’d already been cast.

Well, it’s official. The star of Captain America: The First Avenger, Dracula Untold and The History Boys will be donning the priest’s collar, Southern accent and the power of Genesis to play Jesse Custer in the AMC pilot based on the beloved comic series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, as confirmed by Rogen on Twitter.

He joins Ruth Negga as Tulip O’Hare, Joseph Gilgun as Cassidy, Ian Colletti as Arseface and Lucy Griffiths as a new character Emily Woodrow.

While it doesn’t have the immediate “Oh hell yes, of course, that’s perfect!” quality of, say, Joe Gilgun’s casting, Cooper’s certainly capable of balancing charm and danger and some of his recent big screen outings (Dracula Untold, Need For Speed) haven’t exactly been the best showcases for an actor. We’re interested to see how he brings the Texan minister to life.